Overhead monorailway system



Feb. 20, 1951 w. c. cox 2,542,236

OVERHEAD MONORAILWAY SYSTEM Filed June 28, 1948 n m 1 ulll ilrlullll/ll/lulnllilllplllnnpnln A fry. 5.

IN V EN TOR.

WaZzer C Cox A T roe/wry I WQWMM Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE 2,542,236 OVERHEAD MONOR-AILWAY SYSTEM Walter C. Cox,Denver, 0010.

Application June 28, 1948, Serial No. 35,620

3 Claims. (01. 104--l21) This invention relates to improvements in railways of the overhead drive type.

It is the object of this invention to produce a railway which shall be adapted for various uses and which, for the purpose of illustration, has been shown as a passenger-carrying railway, but which'may be of a type to serve as a toy or for transporting material in a store or warehouse.

It is an object of this invention to produce a railway construction of such design that the cars may travel at ultra high speeds without danger of derailment.

Another object is to produce a railway construction that can be employed in hilly countries without the necessity of bringing the road bed to a smooth even grade and which, in most cases, can be built with a very small amount of grading.

A further object is to produce a railway construction in which the traction is effected between the car and an overhead insulated rail that also serves as a conductor of electricity.

The above and other objects that may become apparent as the description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described in detail, and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the invention has been illustrated and in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of a railway showing a car in position for movement along a track;

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2-2, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken on line 3-3, Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a diagram showing both a top and bottom drive.

In the drawing reference numeral 5 designates a supporting surface, for example, the ground, or a floor. In the example illustrated, the railroad is an outside one and is supported on the surface of the ground. Numeral i3 designates the ties on which rail l is supported and to which it is attached by spikes 3, in the usual way. In the drawing a single rail has been shown. It is to be understood that two parallel rails may be used, if desired.

Positioned along the railway track are two rows of posts 9, one on each side. The posts are arranged in pairs and are connected at their tops by a bar Ii! and are preferably braced by diagonal corner braces H, as shown in Figure 2. The center portion of bar Ill is covered with a heavy layer of electrically insulating material l2.

An upper rail E3 of inverted channel cross section having spaced parallel flanges I4 joined by a web I5 is suspended beneath bars I!) by means of inverted U-shaped straps l6 that straddle the insulated centers of bars In. An electric current generator IT is connected between rail 1 and channel l3 as shown in Figure l.

The car body has been designated by reference numeral l8 andhas a floor l9, side walls 20 and a top 2|, as shown most clearly in Figure 2. One

, or more motors 22 are supported on the car floor,

as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The car is supported on two trucks whose flanged wheels have been designated by numeral 23 mounted for rotation in suitable bearings 24. When the car is of moderate length, each truck comprises a single wheel only. If more than one wheel is provided for each truck, they must be connected with the car for rocking movement about a transverse pivot so that both wheels will at all times rest on the track, regardless of the track curvature. A large idler pulley 25 is mounted for rotation on its axle 25 positioned in bearings 21. A pulley 28 is secured to motor shaft 29 and pulleys 25 and 28 are encircled by a heavy flat belt 30 that passes between the pulley surface and the inner surface of web 15, as shown in Figure 3. The parts are so proportioned that the top rail will be raised a couple of inches by pulley 25 and the weight of a considerable longitudinal section of rail I3 therefore rests on the outer surface of belt 30. If the motor is now operated to move the belt in the direction of the arrow in Figure 3, the car will move towards the right by the friction be tween the belt and track [3.

If it is found desirable to do so, one motor may be connected with pulley 25 and the other with one of the supporting wheels 23, as illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 4.

This construction is especially well. adapted for underground conveyor systems like those used for transporting mail between post oilices and railway stations and similar purposes.

Flanges M of the overhead rail serve as guides that limit the lateral movement of the top of the car, thus making it possible to employ a single supporting rail. If two parallel spaced supporting rails are used, the car will rock if the upper surfaces of the supporting rails are not even, in which case flanges l4 could not be used.

In the drawing and in the description the car has been shown as being electrically driven and the overhead rail serving as a trolley wire or conductor. It is, of course, permissible to use an internal combustion engine for power, if desired.

What I claim is:

1. A monorailway system comprising a car sup- 3 porting rail, forming a track, a plurality of pairs of posts spaced along the track, the postsof the pairs being on opposite sides of the track, the upper ends of each pair of the posts being joined by a bar, an overhead rail'of channel shape'jp'o'sitioned underneath the bars, means supporting the overhead rail from the bars to' permit the rail to move vertically a predetermined distance with respect to said bars, a car having at least two wheels resting in spaced relation on the supporting rail, a traction pulley pivoted for rotation about an axis transverse to the car, said pulley projecting through the roof of the car; said pulley extending into the channel of the overhead rail, the distance from the top of the supporting rail to the under surface of the web of the overhead rail being less than the distance from thebottom.

of the supporting Wheels to the top of the traction pulley, whereby the overhead rail will be raised when'the traction pulley passes under it, and means comprising a motor mounted on the car and, operatively connected to the traction pulley for rotating the latter.

21A monorail system comprising a car supporting rail forming a track, means above the track for supporting an overhead rail for limited vertical movement, a rail of channel shaped cross section supported by said means with the flanges extending downwardly a car'having at least two 4 wheels resting in spaced relation on the supporting rail, means including said wheels and supportingrail for preventing lateral movement of th ar relative to the track, a traction pulley re atably mounted on thecar adapted to engage the upper rail, means including the pulley and thefianges of the upper rail for preventing rela-' tive lateral movement of the traction pulley and the upper rail, and means for driving the pulley. 3. A monorail system in accordance with claim 2 wherein traction between the pulley and upper rail is effected by an endless belt passing around a peripheral portion of the pulley.

-- WALTER C. COX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Lawrence June 13, 1939 

